Gay Weddings in New York City--Some of the Happiest Couples You’ll Ever See (and Some AMAZING Wedding Dresses Too)

It was a beautiful day for a wedding--well, 24 weddings. An awesome organization called Pop Up Chapel performed same-sex wedding ceremonies today in Manhattan’s Central Park, so Paul and I headed over to get shots of the way-cool wedding dresses and ceremony canopies (you’ve got to see these!).

When same-sex marriage was legalized in New York on June 24th, the people behind Pop Up Chapel thought, “Hey, let’s give away some free weddings to celebrate marriage equality!” So they worked with wedding officiants, makeup artists, hair stylists, floral designers, cupcake bakers, and more to make 24 couples’ wedding dreams come true (the organization chose to throw 24 weddings to honor the date the law was signed and the July 24th date when the first legal gay marriages were performed).

And my goodness was love in the air today. You couldn’t help but smile when you looked at these happy couples who had waited so long (one pair met 37 years ago!) to get hitched. After seven hours of ceremonies (good thing it was sunny, in the 80s, and not too humid today) at two different chapels, designed especially for the day, 48 people could finally say they were married.

Dave Holmes, the former MTV personality, was the MC for the day.

Bryn and Leila were the first brides to get married...and I couldn't stop staring at that long, slimming dress. Now there's a something blue! And I adore their bouquets too.

Those two cuties exchanged vows in the iCrave wedding chapel (the gal at the altar is their wedding officiant). The rainbow ribbon design was one of the two winning entries from architects who hoped to have their work featured in Central Park today.

This was the other winning design, from Z-A Studio. It's called Kiss and made of recycled honeycomb cardboard.

Here's the reverse view (and some of the Manhattan skyline's famous towers).

Couples were treated to pro hair and makeup (those lucky ducks!).

These newlywed grooms (with the calla lily boutonnieres) got a celebratory squeeze from their loved ones.

Meet Jen and Rose. I was so obsessed with their wedding style, I asked them to pose for a photo just before their ceremony. Jen's wedding gown is from David's Bridal and Rose's sassy number is from BCBG.

Though there were hundreds in attendance, each couple was able to bring just a dozen guests into the chapel areas.

As "Here Comes the Bride" played (or should it be "Here Come the Brides"?), Rose and Jen walked toward the Kiss chapel hand in hand. Most couples escorted each other down the aisle (so sweet).

These two were positively giddy during their wedding ceremony. You'd never know they already had a wedding celebration in Maine a few weeks prior--Rose's adorable mom let me in on the secret--but this New York ceremony made their marriage legal.

Lots of New Yorkers and tourists who didn't know the couples gathered to show their support. There were a couple of haters (one bicycle renter asked the crowd, "So are you all gay?"), but they were few and far between, thankfully.

If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

Married! Wedding guests rang bells and cheered. I was so honored to witness!

So which wedding bouquet is your favorite? And which of the wedding dresses would you wear (Rose's BCBG dress gets my vote!)? Would you mind getting married simultaneously in the same location as other couples if the ceremony were free?